1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording and reproducing apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information while driving an information processing head relative to a recording medium and, more particularly, it relates to an information recording and reproducing apparatus provided with mechanisms for locking a shuttle on which the recording medium is mounted and for locking the head respectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
The apparatus disclosed by the Japanese Patent Disclosure Sho 62-92268, for example, is well known as one of the conventional information recording and reproducing apparatuses. This apparatus has a mechanism for locking the shuttle not to be moved by force added to an optical card or recording medium when the card is loaded onto the shuttle in the apparatus. This lock mechanism also serves to prevent the shuttle from being shifted and broken by vibration or the like in the course of carrying the apparatus. The optical head (or head) has a mechanism for allowing it to be reciprocated similarly to the case of the shuttle and it is also subject to impacts in the course of carrying the apparatus. Particularly the optical head includes a plurality of optical members. Even if slight impact is added to the optical head, therefore, the optical axis of these optical members will be shifted from their original one to thereby make it impossible to read or write information from and on the optical card. This makes it necessary to provide a lock mechanism for the optical head.
The conventional information recording and reproducing apparatuses need so many lock drive sources as to correspond to the number of loads which must be locked. As the result, the number of parts used increases accordingly. Further, the apparatus must be made large in size and heavy in weight when so many lock drive sources are incorporated into the apparatus. The Japanese Patent Disclosure Sho 64-72373 discloses another information recording and reproducing apparatus provided with a mechanism for locking the shuttle by a combination of gears. According to this apparatus, the shuttle is unlocked when a solenoid which drives the gears is energized and it is locked when the solenoid is de-energized.
However, this apparatus also leaves the above-mentioned drawbacks unsolved.